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Five Critical Steps to Take When a Trip and Fall Accident in Houston Destroys Your Life

You never expect it will happen to you. As you go about your day as usual, visiting your regular shops, meeting up with friends, or doing something fun with your family a crack in the sidewalk causes you to fall. You never saw the crack, but when your shoe meets the cracked cement, your body slams into the ground causing you to hit your head and break a bone.

Suddenly, your life is changed. You may be unable to work for months, costing you your paycheck. What’s worse is that you may never fully recover from the damage caused to your body from these injuries.

Five Ways to Protect Yourself After a Serious Trip and Fall Accident

Knowing what to do immediately after a trip and fall accident may be equally as overwhelming. To help you stay protected and get the compensation you need, here are five tips from a Houston trip and fall lawyer.

Seek immediate medial care. When you suddenly lose your balance and fall to the ground, your adrenaline spikes. This can mask a lot of the pain and damage you experienced. Although you may think you’ll be okay to wait a few days to see your doctor, it is critical that you seek immediate medical care. Getting fast care from a doctor could decrease the risk of making your injuries worse, and document the specific impact your fall had on your body. That will be important as you pursue your claim.

Take photos. These days, most people carry a smartphone or camera. Use this to capture photos of what caused your injury as soon as the accident happened. Waiting until later to return to the scene to take pictures will mean losing the evidence of what the hazard looked like, and how poorly it was marked to warn you from falling. Take pictures right away to document what happened.

Notify the property manager. You are badly hurt, and you do not want anyone else to experience the same pain and suffering as you have. That’s why it is important to let the property manager know right away that there is a hazard that has the potential to cause someone serious harm. Talking to the property manager not only forces them to put up warning signs and fix the danger, but it also allows you to document your fall.

Don’t give a recorded statement. After you file a claim, the insurance adjuster representing the property owner may call and want to record your statement of what happened. This is dangerous, because it could put you at risk of losing at least a portion of the financial compensation you deserve. You have no obligation to give this statement, so it is best to politely decline.

Don’t sign any paperwork. A property owner may ask you to sign paperwork after the accident. They may disguise this as a document of what happened, but it may be used to put at least a portion of the blame against you later on in your claim. Avoid signing anything you’re unfamiliar with. This is the best way to protect yourself from being scammed into taking blame for something that was not your fault.

When you trip and fall, your head is spinning. You shouldn’t have to sift through paperwork, questioning, and more while you need to focus on recovering from your injuries. That’s where attorney Cris Galindo can help.

Our team of Houston premise liability lawyers knows how insurance companies handle trip and fall accidents. That means that we also know what they do to try to lower how much you receive in a settlement offer. With our help, you can protect your family and receive the full amount of compensation you deserve.

Still not sure about the steps you should take to protect yourself? Reach out to us and we’ll get you started in the right direction.